The Gladiator: Ultimate Cloning Edition
|release date=26 April, 2017 |pages= |era= |timeline=2014As the Lead Cloning Technician cites that Abalan died two years ago, two years after the Battle of Kansas in 2012 is 2014. |series= |preceded by= |followed by=}} The Gladiator: Ultimate Cloning Edition is a complete edition of the novel , which includes campaigns depicting the life of X1, a clone of Abalan, and his quest to break free of the Gladiator's influence. It was written by Roxy Karparan and uploaded to by D. Isaac Thomas. Synopsis Escape from Florida In 2014, the Gladiator approaches a young man inside a small cell. It is revealed that for two years, he has endeavored to create the perfect version of his fallen disciple — a clone that possessed all of Abalan’s power, but none of his weaknesses. Now, the Gladiator was telling this particular clone he was confident he could send him to Italy to destroy Ronald Koda. Although he was impressed with the clone’s progress, he knew that this subject was just as troubled by Abalan’s memories as all of the other clones had been. In order to see if the clone was truly strong enough to overcome his template’s emotions, the Gladiator provided the clone with a challenge to destroy NoHead Trenists that had taken on the holographic appearance of police officers. Although the clone easily destroyed the officers, sparing no feelings for the organization that his progenitor helped to create, he realizes one of them is his template's love interest, Laleh Clipso, and another is his template's sister-in-arms, Annabeth Black. He is unable to kill them, prompting the Gladiator to step in. Cutting the last robot down, the Gladiator tells X1 that the accelerated cloning process used to create X1 is imperfect. All previous clones had gone mad within months. Due to initial imperfections in the accelerated cloning process and the inherent difficulty involved in cloning from a mutated template, the first batch of clones developed extreme mental and physical deformations. As time progressed, the project began to generate superficially stable clones. However, it was soon revealed that these subjects were haunted by various memories and personality fragments of their template. Although many of these clones made it far in their trials, none of them were able to develop stable personalities of their own. The clones would ultimately go on to become fixated on one or two elements of the original Abalan’s life, and eventually all of them descended into madness. The Gladiator states that he had expected this Abalan to be the first success, but it seemed that this clone was going to suffer the same fate. After questioning what the Gladiator was going to do with him, X1 is struck by a vision of the Gladiator stabbing Abalan in front of the Dark Lord, Mr. Stupid NoHead. The clone unleashes a blast of lightning at his master and destroys a portion of the wall, allowing him to escape. However, he is faced with a huge drop, which is filled with perils such as lighting towers, platforms and N-54 fighters. Blasting all of them out of his way, X1 crashes through a glass roof to another part of the facility. He begins to carve his way through various troops: Riot troopers, two Carbon War robots and jumptroopers. After avoiding a dropship, X1 comes to a large tower, which he knocks down by throwing several N-54 fighters at it. The tower crushes one of three HEADs guarding his master's skyfighter. Destroying the remaining two, X1 manages to steal the fighter, just as the Gladiator blasts his way to the landing platform. The Gladiator watches as the fighter soars away into the sky. The Gladiator follows X1's trajectory and watches as the runaway clone takes off to Italy, where he successfully rescues Ronald Koda from Baron Meridan Taran near the eastern archway of Rome. After the end of the skirmish, the Gladiator suddenly loses contact. He demands to know what is going on, and John Webb tells him Koda has taken X1 aboard the Shadow Laser. Deal with bounty hunter The Gladiator chooses to hire Xydarone IV and Xorn to capture X1 in Rome, where he has been looking for Ronald Koda, only to be captured by the Baron. The bounty hunters, both desperately requiring new funds to shore up their depleted bank accounts, take her ship to California where they are ordered to begin their mission. Along the way, Xydarone reveals to Xorn that their target was an extremely powerful mutant codenamed X1. Later on, Xydarone reports that after exploring the ruins of Rome, an entire city destroyed by X1, the two bounty hunters had discovered the remains of the city's arena and a massive creature which appeared to be dead. However, their arrival woke the beast, who had nearly been killed by X1, causing it to attack the hunters in a frenzy. Though initially caught off guard by the monster's survival and ferocity, Xydarone IV had rebounded and killed the creature by using her jetpack to shoot herself straight through its chest, taking out the Ora's heart and finally killing it. Angered, the Gladiator summons them to Florida. The swamp Meanwhile, X1 proceeds to Louisiana and finds a beautiful woman meditating outside a swamp. She suggests that X1 is looking for something lost, 'perhaps a part of himself'. After being told that the thing he had lost was inside the swamp, X1 wades inside the murky water, where he encounters several clones of himself, entangled in vines. A little way deeper, X1 sees Annabeth and Laleh standing together in a fog, which turn into a single bridge of a ship. X1 sees them get attacked, and calls out to them. They limp towards him, but then fade, as does the rest of the vision. As X1 makes his way to South Carolina, Xydarone and Xorn arrive in Florida, where they survey the damage to Tallahassee and concludes that it will take some time to find X1. Knowing that the bounty hunter will never be able to capture or defeat X1 directly, the Gladiator commands Xydarone to abduct Annabeth Black, a valuable member of the NoHeads, and Laleh Clipso. Since the clone has inherited his template’s emotional attachment to the two women, the Gladiator anticipates that the clone would never be able to resist returning to Florida to save them. Despite her own talents, Xydarone knows she cannot assault the NoHead Base and capture Annabeth independently. that she was not capable of single-handedly assaulting the NoHead Base and abducting an extremely powerful (albeit somewhat undeveloped) Dark mutant all on his own. To that end, she requests enough F-7 robot soldiers from the Gladiator. The Gladiator’s only concern is bringing the clone back to Florida, regardless of how many resources he has to exhaust. As such, the Gladiator provides Xydarone IV with a far greater and more capable force than she had requested, including Terror Troopers, TDBs, Terror Biobots, and a Terror Walker. Battle of Florida Before Xydarone could collect on her payment for capturing Annabeth and Clipso, the Gladiator commanded her to remain in Tallahassee until X1 was neutralized. Feeling apprehensive and like she has already done her share, Xydarone demands to leave right away, but the Gladiator will not allow the mercenary to leave, thus forcing Xydarone to grudgingly remain at the Dark mutant's side. The Gladiator and his newfound prisoners go to a tower lcoated at the top of the cloning facility. When X1 used the Redemption to break through Florida's shield, he also directed the aircraft's remains towards Tallahassee, Xydarone just barely survived as debris from the police flasgship crashed into the cloning facility. The ground assault of police officers that ensued forced the bounty hunter to take refuge deep within the inner sections of Tallahassee. He was then attacked by another clone of Abalan, one that was both incredibly deformed and deranged. Despite its undisciplined use of a sword, the clone exhibited Abalan's strength in the Dark side and exceptional resilience to pain. Xydarone only managed to survive the encounter by launching a rocket from her jetpack into the clone's head, thus killing it. When the battle began, X1 directed the Rescuer on a collision course with Tallahassee. While Clipso and the robots became increasingly nervous, the Gladiator maintained a calm stance and awaited the clone’s return. While the first half of the ship crashed into the cloning facility, X1 destroyed the second solid fragment so as to not inadvertently harm Clipso and Annabeth, the latter who had been trying to redirect its path. While the clone made his way to the top of the facility, killing all forces in his way, the Gladiator secured Clipso in the tower, tightened Annabeth’s bonds, and moved to confront his former apprentice. Confrontation with X1 Within the cloning facility, the Gladiator and X1 engage in a sword duel. While X1 pressed his attack and demanded to know where Clipso and Annabeth were, the Gladiator stood his ground against the clone. Having learned his lesson after nearly being killed by Abalan, the Gladiator refrains from the same sort of reckless offense that he utilized against Abalan and opts for more defensive and cautious moves, knowing that the cloned Abalan is to be taken seriously. In order to stall and demoralize X1, the Gladiator unleashed various imperfect clones of Abalan and commanded them to attack their renegade brother. X1 was shocked to see that there were other clones of Abalan besides himself, and realized that he was wrong in believing that the Gladiator had lied about creating other clones before him. These clones however, presented no real threat to X1, and he easily dispatched them. After defeating the aberrant clones, X1 pursued the Gladiator all the way to the cloning tower where he found Annabeth and Laleh Clipso. Arriving in front of the Gladiator, X1 demands to know the location of Annabeth and Clipso. The Gladiator steps aside, and reveals them. Gripping Annabeth by the throat, using the Dark side, the Gladiator orders X1 to bow before him, else Annabeth dies. X1 obeys, dropping his swords. Annabeth is set down by the Gladiator and, unseen by X1 or the Gladiator, crawls towards her sword, which had previously been placed out of her reach. The Gladiator orders X1 to execute Koda, give himself to the Dark Side, and to execute the remaining police officers. If he did not do any of these, then Laleh and Annabeth would die. However, Annabeth draws her sword and slashes at the Gladiator, but he dodges the attack and she is thrown through a window by him, landing on an electrified platform, seemingly dying along with Laleh. X1, believing this has killed both of the prisoners, lets out a feral scream and charges the Gladiator, summoning back his swords. They engage in a brief lock before the Gladiator grips and throws X1 as well, although he makes a perfect landing. The Gladiator jumps down after him. The final duel The two of them engage in another duel, with the Gladiator attempting to convince the clone that Laleh, Annabeth, and X1's connection to her were both meaningless. X1 is inconsolable however, screaming that he will kill the Gladiator. During the duel, X1 electrocutes the Gladiator several times by pushing him against the electrical pylons surrounding the area. The Gladiator at last disarms the clone and throws him from the platform where the duel was taking place. X1 manages to grab onto the edge of the platform, and the Gladiator attempts to dislodge him by throwing his sword at him repeatedly. X1 manages to catch the sword on it's fourth throw and tosses it back at the Gladiator, slashing his leg. The injury however, only momentarily distracts the Gladiator, who, after missing X1 with a backhand punch, telekinetically pushes him across the platform and attempts to crush him with one of the pylons. X1 barely manages to hold it off himself, and raises another pylon from the platform. The Gladiator glances over at the second pylon, and X1 uses the distraction to toss the first pylon off himself. Using the Dark side, he causes the remaining pylons to release a huge amount of electricity, which he then absorbs and uses to blast an incredible amount of lightning at the Gladiator, finally subduing him. X1 stands before the Gladiator, intent on killing him, accusing him of taking everything from him. The Gladiator calmly reiterates that the clone's feelings for Annabeth and Laleh were not real. X1 reiterates that the feelings were real - to him. Just at that precise moment, Koda and several other officers arrive, stopping him from immediately killing the Gladiator. Koda wants to arrest him, and put him on trial for crimes against the true Republic. He also mentions that the Gladiator is the only one who knows if the original Abalan survived. Reunited: Light Ending X1 spares the Gladiator, and Koda requests that he be restrained. X1 runs to where WINDOW is attempting to revive the prisoners, to little success. X1 cradles Laleh's body in his arms, and says that he should have stayed in Florida, thus acting out his final vision. Annabeth, however, wakes, and kisses X1. After affirming that they are still alive, the two kiss again, and Laleh instantly wakes up, as if out of nowhere. After being secured in a harness that covered most of his body and completely restricted his ability to move, the Gladiator was placed inside the Shadow Laser’s meditation chamber. There, X1 visited the captured Dark mutant shortly before the police fleet departed from Florida. Although he nearly lost his confidence at the sight of his former Master, X1 began mocking the Gladiator by gloating on how he chose to spare his life. Although he remained uncertain over his own origins, he dismissed it as irrelevant, stating that he had succeeded in breaking the Gladiator’s hold over him. Throughout X1’s short display of new-found confidence in himself, the Gladiator remained silent the entire time and did not indulge the clone with the answers he sought. Seeing the pointlessness in his actions, X1 turned to leave. Inside, X1 enters the Gladiator's prison room. The Gladiator is restrained on a metal table, with several large, heavy bolt fixing him to it. X1 tells him that, despite the Gladiator telling him that he is a clone, he chose to spare the Gladiator — he has finally broken the Gladiator's hold over him. The Gladiator says nothing to that. Just as he leaves, the Gladiator tells him that as long as Annabeth and Laleh live, he will always control X1. X1 pauses, but brushes off the remark, and returns to Annabeth and Laleh in the cockpit. They share a sentimental moment as Annabeth says 'prepare for hyperspace', and the Shadow Laser disappears into the sky. Annabeth, X1, and the officers are unaware that they are being followed by Xydarone IV's skyfighter (implying that the Gladiator anticipates the possibility that X1 would capture him instead of killing him and uses the opportunity to track the Orb of Power for which he seeks). Betrayed by rage: Dark Ending Deleted scene: The "perfect" clone of Abalan This deleted scene reveals that the Gladiator was training another clone that showed a great deal of potential. Unsurprisingly, this clone inherited the same disturbing memories and emotions of his genetic template just like his brothers before him. Upon being released from his cloning tank, the clone was confronted by Abalan’s memories of Annabeth and Laleh Clipso, thus causing the clone to ask about their whereabouts. The Gladiator simply stated that the two girls were irrelevant, and all that mattered was the training that lay ahead for the clone. In the early phase of his training, the clone reveals to the Gladiator that he possesses memories, but cannot tell if they actually belong to him. Having dealt with enough of Abalan’s clones suffering from an identity crisis, the Gladiator simply explains that the clone was copied from the cells of Abalan’s corpse, thus allowing him to inherit the original Abalan’s strengths and weaknesses. Although the clone's successes continue, the Gladiator is not yet fully convinced that this was the one he sought to create, recalling all of the other clones that made it this far and then failed. Even though the clone is determined to not fail his Master, it didn’t stop him from becoming curious about the exact number of clones that came before him, or from wondering about what his progenitor was like as a person before he died. The Gladiator dismisses the clone’s questions as pointless curiosity. All that mattered to him was if any more clones would be created if this one failed. With Abalan dead and his power surpassed by the clone, the Gladiator feels that delving into the details of his original apprentice’s identity is irrelevant. To the amazement of both the lead cloning technician and the Gladiator, the clone is gradually able to compartmentalize his template’s memories while forming new ones of his own. Thus, he succeeds in achieving what none of his brothers were capable of doing — holding Abalan’s memories as separate from his own experience. By doing so, the clone had come to know for certain that he was a copy and that the original Abalan was truly dead. The Gladiator greatly approved, and promised to prove what the clone already knew to be true. That proof was revealed by the Gladiator to be the body of the late Abalan, stored within a cold chamber in Tallahassee. By seeing Abalan’s corpse with his own eyes, the clone understood that he had succeeded where all of the clones failed before him, and that he was well on his way to fulfilling the purpose of his creation — much to the Gladiator’s delight. Notes and references Category:D.I.T. Website Category:Non-canonical media Category:The Life and Legends series